Rep. Jon Becker throws hat in Colorado House of Representatives ring for fourth time

Rep. Jon Becker has put to rest months of speculation about his political future and announced he intends to run for a fourth term for the Colorado House of Representatives.

But the Fort Morgan Republican told this reporter the decision to run again was the hardest one he's made in his political career.

Becker said he had to carefully weigh his time away from his family, heading into the 2018 election and the next two years after that. His son will be a high school senior in the fall, and Becker said he wanted to be sure he can spend time with his son for that all-important final year.

"It wasn't an easy decision for me this time," Becker said Thursday. "I love the people of my district and can't think of a better job than the one I have right now - taking care of the issues they have and giving them a voice - a very loud voice, sometimes boisterous - at the Capitol."

"I want to make sure I can get my arms around this office, do a good job and leave Eastern Colorado better than the way I found out, and we're well on our way to that path."

In addition to making sure he has time for his family, Becker admits being a primary co-sponsor of the biggest bill to come out of the 2017 legislative session - the hospital provider fee - took "a lot of steam out of me," not to mention causing him political headaches.

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The measure reclassified the provider fee into an enterprise - a government owned business - and spared Colorado hospitals a half-billion dollar budget cut. That included 12 rural hospitals, including at least one in the district. The budget cut was expected to force the closure of those hospitals. The measure also provided a one-time funding boost to rural schools of $30 million, and $1.9 billion to pay for transportation projects, with one-quarter of that dedicated to rural projects. And the measure did something that Republicans have had on their wish list for more than a decade: provide a break in personal property taxes for small businesses.

"It was a very difficult bill to pass" and even more difficult for people to understand, Becker said. He took a lot of heat from people who he said just didn't understand what the bill would do for Eastern Colorado, and that included some pretty nasty comments on social media, more than he'd ever experienced before. "I had to sit back and decide if I wanted to be here and if I wanted my kids" to see this kind of thing, he said. "I've seen some of the ugliest side of politics I've ever seen" after the passage of Senate Bill 17-267.

Despite the criticism, Becker believes the bill was the best thing for the district.

In the last month, however, since people knew he was contemplating whether to run again, he's gotten an outpouring of support for another term, from people in the district and around the state, telling him he has a lot more to do.

Those issues include water, making sure hospitals and schools in Eastern Colorado get the support they need, and taking care of agriculture.

"People don't understand that those in agriculture are the best environmentalists ever, because they live off the land." That message, he said, still hasn't taken hold at the state capitol and among urban lawmakers.

With the 2018 legislative session now underway, Becker said he's excited again to be back at the capitol. The first few days have been very productive and he said he continues to become more efficient in the job.

"I don't take it lightly," the decision to run again, he said, adding his family and employer, Viaero, all support his decision to go for another term.

Becker also noted that the 2018 election will produce a lot of change for the state, with a new governor, cabinet, new attorney general, state treasurer and a lot of new lawmakers, both in the House and Senate.

All 65 seats in the House are up for election in the fall. At least 11 seats will be wide-open: five House members are term-limited and six others are ending their House careers to run for other offices. In the Senate, where Republicans hold a one-seat majority in the 35-member body, seven members will end their legislative careers. Another nine are up for re-election, including Senate President Pro tem Jerry Sonnenberg of Sterling.

All of this change means now more than ever, it's important to have "seasoned veterans with a calm voice and who know why rural Colorado is important. That's why I made the decision that it's important to stay and be that voice."

Becker has been one of the more successful Republicans in a Democrat-dominated House in issues such as education and deregulation. He spent only two years at the legislature when Republicans were in charge, in his first term in 2011-12. (He skipped the 2013-14 sessions because his House seat was combined with that of Sonnenberg's and he elected to wait until 2014 to run again, when Sonnenberg was term-limited in the House and ran for the Senate.)

After he came back for the 2015 session, Becker joked that he had to go into therapy because he was in the minority in the House. But he learned very quickly how to be effective. "I learned real quick the power of educating the other side of the aisle on what I was trying to do. I've never sprung things on people; I've prided myself on educating everyone who's involved in a bill."

Becker said he's also learned about not fighting battles in the press, which he said sometimes polarizes the subject. "We get along on most things here. We don't argue as much as people think."

Being one of the few rural voices out of 100 lawmakers means "we need to do things as fast as possible. We don't have the time to fail."

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